Week 8: Musée Guimet

So, we’re 8 weeks in to Project Dressing-up-in-Paris, and I have decided it is high time that there is some focus on current fashion trends themselves. One of the main trends for Spring-Summer 2013 is oriental, with Japanese-inspired tailoring and details appearing on the runways for Vera Wang, Prada, Etro, Emilio Pucci, Gareth Pugh, Haider Ackermann, Altuzarra – the list goes on! This being the case, I thought I’d do an oriental-themed shoot this week, and what better place to go than the National Museum of Asian Arts, also known as the Musée Guimet.

Belt made from silk scarf 

The Musée Guimet was originally set up by industrialist Émile Étienne Guimet in Lyon, as a museum of the history of religion. Guimet did a tour of the Far East and filled the museum with artworks and relics that he collected during it. The museum moved from Lyon to Paris in 1885, when Monsieur Guimet gave his collection to the French State and, over time, it became a museum of Asian artefacts – especially after 1945 when all of the Musée Guimet’s Greco-Roman and Egyptian art was moved to the Louvre in exchange for a large part of the Louvre’s Asian art collection.

Earrings - Present from China

Because Guimet initially wanted the museum to be a centre for study or, as he put it, a “factory of philosophical science” the museum also contains an extensive library, which houses the thousands of books which Guimet collected on his travels. It was in this library that Mata Hari had her debut in 1905. Now, Mata Hari is another one of my somewhat suspect idols – mostly because she was beautiful and has become iconic...and because she was alive around the turn of the century! She was Guimet’s long-time mistress, an exotic dancer and courtesan who was also a spy for the Germans during the First World War and who was executed by the French when she was just 41 years old. She is also widely considered to be one of the first ever femme fatales.

Kimono - C&A

While I wouldn’t say I necessarily channelled my inner Mata Hari for this shoot – I definitely sampled a slightly déshabillé style of dressing. I’ll explain; to keep in with the oriental theme I decided to go with the gorgeous kimono that joy of a roommate bought me for Christmas – yes, technically it is a dressing gown, but it is too beautiful not to be seen by the world. I improvised an obi belt by tying a wide silk scarf around my waist and kept it in place with the tie from the kimono. To carry on the Japanese vibe, I decided to use mostly floral prints, throwing in a bit of houndstooth, just to make it a bit more fun!

Shoes and Socks - both New Look

Skirt - Oasis

The museum itself is lovely – full of interesting stuff and so quiet and peaceful, even though it’s only a stone’s throw away from the Eiffel Tower. Makes a nice change to the continuous hustle and bustle of more famous museums like the Louvre or the Pompidou. If you go up to the top floor, there are also brilliant panoramic views of the city. It’s definitely worth a visit and – like many other museums in Paris – it is free if you are an EU citizen under 25. That’s all for this week – tune in again next week to see where we’re headed and fingers crossed that March will finally bring us some sunshine!

Ring - New Look